Doc. 5803, Test
Method for In-line, Noncontact Measurement of Thickness and Thickness Variation
of Silicon Wafers for PV Applications Using Laser Position Sensor

The China Committee approved five Standards (see below), driven by
Yingli Solar, Trina Solar, Suntech, GCL Poly and others, during their meeting
on September 12 in Dalian, China.

These documents were subsequently approved by the International
Standards Audits and Reviews Subcommittee and are currently being processed for
publication. Their next meeting will be
in Changsha,
Huna, China on December 12. More activities will be proposed.

Also see “Standards Enhance
Cohesiveness for China’s Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry” in this issue of the Grid.

The Japan Committee conducted its meeting on September 11 in Tokyo and approved Doc. 5532.
This document is also being processed for an official PV Standards
designation. The next meeting will be in
December
10 at the SEMI Japan
office in Tokyo.

The Taiwan Committee also approved two new Standards at their
October 3 meeting at the ITRI office in Hsinchu. These two documents are being processed for
publication. When completed, SEMI will
now have a total of 62 PV Standards.

These ballots are also expected to move forward for approval since
the global PV committee members reviewed and voted affirmatively.

SEMI PV Standards development continues to be a global effort and
each global manufacturing region has contributed. Nearly 600 PV industry
experts in 22 task forces have developed and published PV Standards covering
equipment, materials used in crystalline cell, module and thin film
manufacturing. There are over 40 Standards activities underway.